vifh opponents, and of bearing them down with reafon and arguments; a victory which I cannot but confider as typical of that fuperiority which they afterwards obtained and fupported in the field-! Besides the ever memorable gentlemen of the law who adorned that age, were alfo the Elliots, the Hampdens, Hafleriggs, Philips's, Hothams and Deerings, with many other names, whofe descendants have fince afforded the most affecting proofs of the degeneracy of human nature. These constituted the ftrength of that house of commons which court perfecution had rais'd, difciplin'd, and drawn forth, to be the fcourge of tyranny; to be the refuge, the relief, the avenger, of their injured and oppreffed fellow fubjects; and to furnish an example to all future kings, whofe honour it may hereafter be to govern a free people, how fatal to tranfgrefs the boundary of law! how dreadful to encounter the juft refentment of an enraged people! An house of commons, Sir, was then the real reprefentative of the people; their friends, their protectors, their brethren. The fenfe of the constituents was the fenfe of the reprefentatives. They breathed one common fpirit. Their interefts were the fame, because the interest of both was that of the public. But time (as the elegant but too courtly Roman * fatyrift has obferved) conftantly plundering us of fome good or other, has often fhewn us a very different complexion of things, in ages which foon fucceeded; and houfes of commons have heretofore appeared, formed of men whofe avowed contempt for public fpirit and private virtue has been fo barefaced that should any perfon have hoped for redrefs of grievance, improvement in our laws, the filling up of any breaches in our conftitution; fhould he have expected from many houfes fince that time, that they should hold a watchful eye over every political phoenomenon, fee that the humours of the state are properly balanced, and if any one humour hould be found to preponderate, throw in fome counterweight by a well-timed law, which should reftore the defired æquilibrium; that they should prune with a fteady and skilful hand the excreciencies, nay many of the luxuriancies of liberty, and check, with an undaunted spirit, the info Singuli de nobis Anni prædantur Euntes. lent invafions of prerogative: fhould be have expected them to fee, that accumulation of property is contrary to the genius of freedom and that any thing tending to a monopoly of the means of obtaining of it (even marriage itself when confidered as fuch a means), muft, in the end, produce an oligarchical, by far the worst fpecies of tyranny, and the most lafting, because more become interested in its fupport: that the affeffment of taxes ought to be equal, and if there be an inequality, that the burthen should not fall upon thofe counties whofe forward generolity voluntarily fubjected them to a heavy expence in maintaining the revolution-principles, whilft those who shrunk from the cause of liberty fcarce bear any part of the load: that the steps to justice (by the low cunning and contrivances, together with, I am forry to fay, too much familiarity with, and too great countenance fhewn by the fages of the law to, that peft of fociety the attorney, by which many un. effential forms receive fomewhat more fanctity than they deferve) are raised fo high, and are made fo difficult, that, notwithstanding the acknowledged equity of, I will fay, as well the judgments as the decrees of our courts, and that our common law and statutes are founded upon realon, convenience, and the foundest policy, yet is it almost impoffible for the poor ever to afcend thefe steps, though their calls for speedy redrefs are the mot urgent: that two methods of raifing money presenting themselves, the most oppolite to, and almost fubversive of liberty, fhould be rejected, and more conftitutional methods preferred: that when an huge giant spectre, produced between that ftrange undefineable arch fiend prerogative, and a wiley fecretary of fate, like Milton's death *, the unnatural offfpring of fin and the devil, ftalks over the land, devouring fome, terrifying all, after the manner of the wild beaft which is now ravaging France in every news-paper; if he fhould have expected that the reprefentative part of the nation fhould go forth, armed with law and liberty, to drag the frightful monster to speedy deftruction; the man, I fay, who fhould have hoped for thefe things, and feveral other remedies for the many diforders which are incident to ftates, from fome houfes of commons, whofe journals we have feen fince the difimiffion of the long parliament by that tyrant Cromwell, would have betrayed a degree of credulity which must have expofed him to great and frequent difappointments! - How, Sir, can it be otherwife, when we behold in many of thefe houfes of commons, men feated in palpable evafion of every law which the wildom of our ancestors could devite, for confecrating that affembly to honour and patriotifm? Among thefe we have seen mean ftock-jobbers, blafted gamblers, the mushroom illiterate growth of the lowest and most obfcure offices about court: but, worst of all, the vile fpawn of the exported outcast of our jails and bridewells, even these we have seen return ftrengthened with the riches of the West Indies, or treasury, and oufting the country gentlemen of the kingdom, of what we may venture to call, a natural intereft of many boroughs.Sir, in my opinion, there never was a ftronger neceffity for any provifion made by legislature, than for a total exclufion of every creature born between the tropicks from any voice in the British parliament. Their manners (I mean the generality of them, for I will allow the poffibility of a few exceptions to this character, are abhorrent from liberty; they are accustomed from their infancy to tyrannize over their unhappy flaves; and that love of tyranny they cannot change when they change their climate. Their Juxury and extravagance do afford the moft fatal examples to our youth, and their vanity is fuch, that they will grind and fqueeze their fugar canes very close, or they will out-bid for a feat in the houfe, the English gentlemen who pays four Jhillings in the pound land-tax, and who cannot lie concealed from his creditors when privilege is expired, in fome small ifland in the watry wafte. In short, Sir, the affaffination attempted by the Indian targeteer upon a certain unfortunate public-fpirited popular gentleman, proves * I must ever confider the man, who is not immediately roufed by the great call of nature and of honour, to refent when that race to be deeply stained with thofe unmanly vices which feem peculiarly the growth of the fouthren countries; and, therefore, improper to have a power in making laws for a virtuous free people. To what end, argument, remonstrance, complaint, to men, who, fhould the voice of reafon thunder in their ears, would be fure to treat it with negligence and contempt?-If houfes of cominons have appeared, whofe inattention to the just com plaints of their fellow citizens have proclaimed them the betrayers, and not the reprefentatives of the people; where the difinterested man, who wishes that all fhould fee and purfue the good of the whole, has found his generous labours invidioufly thwarted, private schemes and cabal prevailing with those who are intrufted with the concerns of the people over every public confideration whatsoever: if the wife and moderate counfels of the Pratts of such times, together with the popular and elevated fentiments of the Pitts and Temples, have been found to give way to the unnatural influence of thofe who refembled the hereditary tory B*** (that impudently, undisguised enemy to liberty and the people, whofe voice is ever heard on the fide of † dictatorhip and arbitrary power) I fay, Sir, had I lived in an age circumstanced in this manner, then, Sir, do I candidly declare that neglecting any fruitless application to reprefentatives, I would recommend, as the best expedient of redress, a direct appeal to the people.But my leisure hours, Mr. North Briton, have not, I thank God, been fo unprofitably employed as to have paffed, and left me uninftructed that an appeal to the people, in their collective capacity, as a judicial power, or as a legislative power, is palpably unconflitutional; unwarranted by our laws; which wifely reject every meafure tending to violence, tumult, or confufion : the method to be followed fure he thinks himself offended, but defers his vengeance until skill, acquired by prac tice, in fome weapon of deftruction, has, by base degrees, raised in him a kind of artificial courage, not only as a coward, but a deliberate affaffin. ↑ Agedum, inquit, dictatorem a que provocatio non cft creemus. Liv. Lib. II. (should such an house of commons as I have defcribed at any future time infeft this island) is, to give a loose rein to the career of wickednefs of fuch reprefentatives (provided the vitals of the state are not immediately affected; for there nature involuntarily raifes the arm of defence) and wait with patience until the term of their much-abufed truft is fairly expired; fuffer them to make the most of their time; but, during that tedious interval, prepare and fortify the minds of the people against that tco diftant, yet ftill to be expected period, when the power over their own laws fhall eagerly revert to themselves. Liberty fhould be roufed; purged by reafons found and healthy, by clear applications of law and convenience, of the wild fpirit of licen tioufnefs, and heavy dregs of flavery. The people, in the cafe before us, fhould be interrogated if they have not been deceived by the men in whom they moft 'confided; if they have not been defpifed by inen, who mounted, by the aid of their ill-bestowed voices and favour, the breaches of our constitution, and erected thereupon the standard of flavery? They fhould be urged to the refentment of fuch treatment in a proper manner, by fhewing that feats in the houfe of commons fhall not be hereditary in families and in names, who deferve fo little. Thofe creatures and connections fhould be marked out, whose repeated expofal of their conftituents to minifterial fale, prove them fully perfuaded that they can upon any occafion, by the affiftance of a Circean dreg, or golden opiate, reduce them to the level of beafts, and drive them reguJarly to market. If it should be aiked what's to be done if thofe elected in their places fhould make as ill ufe of their power, I anfwer with Bobadil "kill(in their reprefentative capacities) them too;" fince it is highly probable that no change can be for the worfe; and the odds are in their favour, that in a continued rotation through all the fubjects who have parliamentary qualifications, one whole fet of reprefentatives fhall be found to answer every end good people can defire; efpecially as, by fuch a proceeding, it would foon appear, that nothing but real patriotif could poffibly fecure any perfon whatioever in the hearts of his countrymen. Sir, your molt, &c. The dependant Whig I am, The NORTH BRITON, No 153. On what must be done for a thorough Reformation. Fleque meos cafus eft quædam flere VolupOVID. HE tas. great end of the endeavours of his royal highnefs the duke of Cumberland to remove a ministry which has fo long difgraced the nation and been odious to the people, not having as yet fully fucceeded, I muft, for fome time longer, continue my animadverfions on this unpopular administration; in order, that, from a proper review of their tranfactions, my countrymen may be, if poffible, more deeply impreffed with the neceffity of an effectual change in the great departments of the ftate. It is, indeed, infinitely pleafing to every fenfible lover, of his country that one of the greatest inftruments of corruption that ever held a place under the government is now no more in power; as well as that the favourite's brother is kicked out of employ, and no longer has the rule of Scotland *. The high hand the former had, in obtaining the approbation of a peace which has already molt fatally affected our commerce, had juftly rendered him an object of public difguit; and the ftrenuous attempts of the latter to defroy the whig interct on the northren fide of the Tweed, were convincing proofs that he was the dangerous tool of an elder tory brother, who has fo long behind the scenes, managed the great drama of the fate.-The firft (I mean the great inftrument of corruption I just now spoke of) has been fucceeded by a person of acknowledged great abilities, but of a difpofition too much inclined to the weather-cock to be wholly confided in. To this gentleman I fhall take the liberty of recommending the study and practice of the rule of HSrace, in his art of poetry, and that the recommendation may not appear impertinently unneceffary, I must beg to fubjoin, from the Spectator, that nothing, that is not a real crime, makes a man appear fo contemptible and little in the eyes of the world as inconftanefpecially when it regards religion or party. In either of thefe cafes, though a mau perhaps does but his duty in changing his fide, he not only makes himself hated by thofe he left, but is feldom heartily efteemed by thofe he comes over to. In thefe great articles of life, therefore, a man's conviction ought to be very strong, and if poffible to well timed, that worldly advantages may feem to have no fhare in it, or mankind will be ill-natured enough to think he does not change fides out of principle, but out of levity of temper, or profpects of intereft." But (to return from this digreffion) to our great misfortune the complicated evils under which the kingdom labours, cannot be duly remedied without a thorough purgation of the public offices; nor fully atoned for, but by fatisfying that juftice which cries out for vengeance on the undoers of their country. A forzed retreat from power may leave a vacancy for a better administration to fupply, but if that retreat is to be attended with abfolute impunity for offences, there will still remain in the breafts of an injured people, the feeds of murmur, difcongent, and complaint. In fuch a situation of things, great must be the deliberation, and many the difficulties to encounter, before a really national miniftery can contently enter upon the important duty of repairing the shattered affairs of the kingdom, and conducting the measures of government, for the general weal. For this reason, the friends of the people canot aflume the executive province, till new fchemes are legiflatively approved of; or, at least, as great a certainty obtained, as the nature of the cafe will admit of, that all that influence which hath been hitherto employed to corrupt and mificad the R*************s of the people, fhall be permitted to be exerted, for the future, to the moft patriot purpofes. Tl this can be effected, we are not to expect that the change, fo ardently withed for by the public in general, can pofbly take place. In the mean time we ooght all to rejoice that our amiable fovereign as plainly dilcovers as his fub jects, the difference between the true friends of his royal houfe, and the covert foes who have fo long fought to eftrange from the affections of his people, a prince born amongst us, and who loves, and is beloved by, every honeft. Englishman; And it must greatly increase the public fatisfaction to know, that one of the first fubjects of the kingdom, fo nearly rela ted to the crown, and fo justly dreaded by the enemies of his family, hath so no bly reaffumed the province for which he was born; I mean, the great talk of defeating the enemies to the establishment of the house of Hanover in England, roufing the hopes of an almost despairing nation, and fettling out affairs upon the great basis of that revolution which firmly fixed, and gave birth to that part of, our prefent happy conftitution. We cannot harbour a fulpicion of the patriotism of a prince deftined by providence to be the faviour of the kingdom; nor can we have any great reafon to fear, that his uncealing endeavours against our fecret enemies will not be as prevalent now, as they formerly were against our open (though lefs dangerous) enemies on the moor of Culloden in the year 1746. The fame good genius which then directed his proceedings, hath doubtlefs now inspired him with the great defire of faving the ftate, and vindicating the national rights. It is alfo a good omen for us, in our present circumitances, that the principal authors of the late inadequate peace are not cemented as formerly. Jars, Bickerings, fufpicions, and the train of followers, fooner or later attendant on confederated vice, are taking place of that eternal friendship which had been fworn between the Scot and his brother negotiator: and we hope the nation will come, by this lucky incident, at the knowledge of tranfactions which it would otherwife never have known. Bad men may for a while agree in one iniquitous defign whilst their interefts are united; but fo foon as one of them is likely to be, or is appre henfive of being, left in the lurch by the artful over-reaching fagacity of the other, it is no new thing to fee them fall out, and the public become gainers by the Quarrel. We all know how anxiously his grace of *******, has, on all occafions, courted the ill-will of his countrymen, and what a character he has obtain ed 1 E ed by such an amiable plan of conduct. The late difturbance he has met with, will, it is to be hoped, teach him that leffon which he refufes to take from me, and perfuade him that the happiness of the most powerful fubject in the world often depends on the good opinion of the lowest of the people; not in free countries only, but every where. In the most enflaved nations, tyrants will often tremble in the midst of their guards; and what degree of happiness, I would ask his grace, mult that man enjoy, and what muft his conduct have been, who in a land of li berty, is obliged to feek for the protection of his life in military bands? and where he can find none to stand between him and his affailants, who are not, in their confciences, by principles of law and education, convinced of the unalienable right vefted in freemen, not only to remonftrate against all grievances whatfoever; but also to affemble (provided they commit no riotous act) for the purpofe of moving compaffion in the breaft of thofe who alone can apply the proper remedy. The doctrine of libels has been, of late years, greatly extended beyond the bounds known to our ancestors; but I ardently hope that the time shall never arrive when the lowest of the people fhould be debarred from complaining of wants which cannot be difpenfed with from the neceffity of our nature; or from expofing in a proper light, the wicked conduct of thofe whofe behaviour tends to drive the people to the most defperate measures for relief. As a free people we have an unquestionable right to comment on public measures, and contrive fchemes to prevent the continuance of any minifter in power, who shall have acted in an impatriotic, unconftitutional, or other unjustifiable manner. Such minifters are to be confidered as the worst enemies of their country; and, whatever courtly priests, or defpotic and time-serving lawyers may affert, as to the reverence due to perfons vefted with minifterial dignity, I feel myself obliged, by the dictates of humanity, to deciare, that fuch minilters may be removed from power by any means which providence enables the injured parties to execute, without regard to place, titles, or functi ons. Sache veral in the reign of queen Anne was justly cenfured by the house of peers for preaching, that "An oppressed June, 1765. that "people cannot lawfully ufe force against "supreme power, in cafe their remon "frances are rejected;" and, 66 prayers and tears are the only weapons "an injured nation can at any time, have recourse to against their fovereign."The thefis eftablished in this cafe, by the fentence of the highest court of judicature in the nation, must still conclude more strongly in that of wicked ministers; and this judgment of the house of peers will remain, to the latest ages, recorded to their unspeakable honour. Thanks to heaven, we have no com. plaint, nor caufe of complaint, against the great and good prince whofe virtues now adorn our throne: our artillery is planted against thofe of his fervants who opprefs, and not against our king. 'Tis them alone we complain of; and their actions demand that complaint. The houfe of commons, this last feffions, palt the bill laying due penalties upon the poffeffors of foreign filks, nem. con. and thereby gave an irrefragable proof of their paternal affection for the commerce and interests of this kingdom. How the factious oligarchy found means to defeat fuch a feeming falutary prefcription is not in me to affert. His grace the duke of Bedford, whofe penetration is EQUAL to his patriotifm, and who is ever EQUALLY employing that talent and that principle for his country's good, cannot but be acquainted with the reasons why the bill did not pafs into a law; and to his grace, therefore must I refer the reader of curiofity for fatisfaction in the cafe before us, -To a plain man, like myself, the importation and wear of French manufactures are circumftances highly menancing to our existence as a commercial kingdom; and on that confideration I cannot perfuade myself to blame the poor fufferers for convening in a body, that their numbers and diftreffes might move compaffion: aud the more fo, as their affembling may ferve as a fpecimen to our minitters, of the danger of fhackling induf try, and driving indigence into despair. But although the principles the adminiftration proceeded in, have, in general, been bad, as being planned by a man who never had the interests of England at heart; yet, even thofe who were fuppofed to be at his beck, have, on a few occafions, ventured to combat him in the very plenitude of his power. I am not A a a ignorant |